Taxi drivers in Barcelona continue protests against insurance prices and competition from Uber and Cabify.
Taxi drivers report increases of "between 300% and 500%," in insurance costs, as stated in El Confidencial. Starting Wednesday morning, January 29, Élite Taxi, led by spokesperson Alberto "Tito" Álvarez, initiated a taxi strike in Barcelona, involving about 5,000 taxi drivers participating in a slow march from terminals 1 and 2 of the airport, according to El Periódico.
The protest, called Operation Padlock by the Élite Taxi union, aimed to "close the city" and collapse traffic in Barcelona to protest against the increase in insurance premiums for their vehicles. "The main reasons for the strike are 'the abuses of the insurance companies' and 'the invasion of illegal VTCs (vehicles for hire without a driver),'" Álvarez stated, according to La Vanguardia.
Taxi drivers claim that insurers are unfairly grouping taxis and VTCs together when setting prices, despite taxis typically having lower accident rates. "They should not apply to us an accident rate that is not ours," Álvarez emphasized, as reported by 20 Minutos. The union demands that authorities establish clear distinctions between taxi insurance and VTC insurance, considering it unfair for both sectors to be treated under the same criteria, according to El Confidencial.
The taxi strike consisted of a slow march to saturate the main arteries of Barcelona, including routes along the Ronda de Dalt and Ronda Litoral roads, lasting approximately four hours. Each column of taxis traveled along one of the ring roads, with even-numbered taxis heading to the Ronda de Dalt and odd-numbered taxis to the Ronda Litoral, intending to carry out slow marches until approximately 2 PM, according to El Periódico.
At the start of the protest, Álvarez announced that "tomorrow 100% of the sector will stop," with the strike scheduled from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, although the slow march may extend into the afternoon, as reported by VilaWeb. "We have been very patient, but the situation our families are going through is unsustainable," the union said in a statement on Wednesday, noting the dire circumstances faced by taxi drivers and that they are being forced to return to the streets, according to El Periódico.
The new law on passenger transport, which has been stalled since 2019, aims to replace the taxi law in force since 2003 and is expected to regulate taxis, platform VTCs, traditional VTCs, and intermediary companies separately, as reported by El Periódico. Taxi drivers feel that their concerns are not being addressed, causing frustration among the sector. "Despite the challenges, we are not to blame for the accidents that the VTC are having all over Spain. The insurers must calculate their policies individually, based on the claims history of each one," Álvarez added, according to El Periódico.
The protest caused traffic disruptions in Barcelona, with the slow march collapsing the two main entry roads to the city: the Ronda de Dalt (B-20) and the Ronda Litoral (B-10), leading to vehicle accumulation at the entrances of the ring roads throughout the morning, as reported by Hosteltur. Passengers at Barcelona-El Prat Airport experienced complications when trying to leave, especially from the parking lot of Terminal 1. The best alternative for passengers was Line 9 Sud of the metro, which connects the two terminals of the airport, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The Élite Taxi union has already announced the date of the next strike, scheduled for February 11, when Álvarez has called taxi drivers to the Venetian Towers of Barcelona to make a slow march through the city center to the Department of Transport, as reported by La Razón. "We will kick them out: if the taxi doesn't eat, nobody eats here," exclaimed Álvarez in the last rally to his companions before heading to the passenger loading area of Terminal 1, according to El Periódico.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.